The Margin of Difference
One and one make two, the literalist said. So far they've made five billion, said the lateralist, or ten times that, if you count the dead.
free verse
playful
The Margin of Difference - meaning Summary
Counting Beyond the Literal
The short poem contrasts a literal, arithmetic view with a broader, human-centered perspective. A declarative statement about basic math is answered by a speaker who counts lives, suggesting numerical facts miss social and moral scale. The exchange compresses a critique of abstract thinking and the ways numbers obscure human consequences. It invites readers to reconsider what is counted and whose lives are included in simple certainties.
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